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BY 

PHILIP 


RICHARD 

DAVIS 


03vicK»sGee 

CHICAGO 



Copyright 1923 
Covici-McGee 
Chicago 







Three hundred and seventy-five 
copies of this book have been printed 
of which this is 

Number _ 



JUN 18 1323 


From the Press 

of 

E. W. Stephens Co. 
Columbia, Mo. 


©C1A705873 

"K» [ 



To Leon M. Hamburger 
and W. C. Firebaugh 



Who of us has not had his promised land, 
his day of ecstacy, and his end in exile. 

From a Greek Epitaph. 



G RATEFUL acknowledgment is made to the Chi¬ 
cago Tribune, Herald Examiner, Daily News, 
Evening Post, The Circle, Wave, and Caprice for per¬ 
mission to reprint some of the following sketches, which 
appeared under the pen names of Philardee and 
Pirique. 







t 


CONTENTS 


Ad Infinitum. 

Ambition. 

A Tatons. 

Barometer. 

B. C. 

Beauty and the Beast . . . 

Benediction. 

Bess. 

Carcassonne. 

Catherine. 

“Cherry”. 

Codicil. 

Compensation. 

Conceit. 

Confession. 

Crichton. 

Crowds. 

Curiosa Felicitas . . . . 

Ego. 

Est Quaedam Flere Voluptas 

Fetich. 

Friends. 

H. E. B. 

Holy Matrimony . . . . 

Horse Sense. 

If This Be Treason . . . 

Ignis Fatuus. 

In Terms of Commerce . . 

In the Army. 

Jack Jones. 

Jewel. 

Legacy . 

Lynceus . 

Malbrook. 

Marie. 


My First Divorce Case . . 45 

No Paradox.73 

Pandora.53 

Patriotism.50 

Pity the Poor Working Girl 56 

Poetic Justice.44 

Portrait.66 

Progress.37 

Purple Plectron.3 

Rudy.70 

Ruth R.54 

Sabotage.38 

Sartor Resartus.55 

Seeking the Absolute ... 13 

She of the Red Tam ... 63 

Supplication.19 

Tag Days.43 

“Take Me, My Lover, 

But....”.41 

Team Work.57 


“That Glistering Foil” . . 51 

The Benefactors . . . . 33 

Theseus Absque Filo . . . n 

The White Disturber ... 71 
Thoughts in a Dentist’s 


Chair.43 

Thrills.10 

To a Pianist.47 

To My Father.1 

Understanding.3 

“Vanadis”.68 

Vanadis Magic.69 

Witchery.67 


You Never Can Tell ... 64 


14 

23 

40 

75 

5 

38 

73 

4 

7 

59 

61 

33 

53 

36 

74 

65 

34 

36 

34 

17 

25 

39 

46 

15 

31 

35 

6 

27 

3i 

60 

48 

30 

49 

29 

58 

























































Purple Plectron 


1 


TO MY FATHER 

Nothing ever grips me, 

Though I’ve tried Life’s every lure, 

The Primrose Path is but a byway, 

The Narrow one but a road. 

The song and wine and fruits forbidden 
May so remain for aught of me, 

For I succumb to my longings 
And soon forget . . . 

My work, my wants, my thoughts 
Are but harbingers of f utility, 

For nothing ever grips me . . . 
Nothing save the one hope 
Science hasn’t killed— 

That when I die 
We shall be pals again. 



2 


Purple Plectron 


PURPLE PLECTRON 

You are a cithara 

Beyond the hope of Art . . . 

And I but a purple plectron, 

A finger-piece 

For Love, Passion and Melancholy 



Purple Plectron 


3 


UNDERSTANDING 

(Bess.) 

I walked in the rain 
Thru a dense wood . . . 
And felt a kinship 
With the fragrance 
Of wet green leaves 
Because you cried 
When I kissed you . . . 



4 


Purple Plectron 


BESS 

I made an inkwell of my heart 
And filled my pen with its fluid . . . 
My tanned-white skin 
Might serve for vellum . . . 

The message is indelible, 

That I love you. 

But “words are the only things 
That last forever, 1 ” 

Therefore, when you read this— 
Say to yourself, 

“He loves me.” 




Purple Plectron 


5 


B. C. 

Leering clutches of doubt 

Grapple with my feeble armor, Vanity— 

Tearing me as with pincers . . . 

And my heart aches, 

My head swirls in anguish, 

Making me stupid and mean by turn. 
The green-eyed monster? 

N o—derrick—chains 

Tugging at my very barrier's 

Of conceit—built against despair . . . 

And all because 

You kept your eyes open 

When I kissed you. 




6 


Purple Plectron 


IGNIS FATUUS 

When I won you 
I became invincible, 

For nothing seemed beyond me . . . 

Thus it was that I went to seek 
What the Ages had sought in vain— 
Immortality . . . 

I followed a Voice 
Which seemed to say, 

“Come, O Dreamer of Imperial Dreams, 

And I will show you 

Immortality.” 

The way, scented with ylang-ylang, 

Led thru a blue-red haze, 

Nymph-pleasured dells, 

Soft harmonies of sound 
And love-mingled mists— 

Leaving me, with my senses 
Sharpened but unsated, 

On the marge of a hidden lake, 

Rimmed round with autumn bronze 

Like a mystic mirror set in Roman gold . . . 

Again that liquid symphony 

Runed thru the wood 

And roused my sleeping soul: 

“Behold, O Mortal, Immortality!” 

“No, no,” I cried, “myself alone I see!” 
Then, like the fall of roses 
On a coffin lid 
The Voice made answer, 

“Is it so? Blame not the mirror, Mortal.” 




Purple Plectron 


7 


CARCASSONNE 

Only you have the beauty and charm 
Of all womankind . . . 

Your limbs, of lustrous white 
Quiver to my touch with a grace 
Unknown even to you— 

Your eyes are shining twin mysteries, 

Now grey with the mist of longing 
Now blue with the dawn of feeling— 

And ever more alluring 
Than the glittering jewels 
Of a maiden, as she whirls 
In the dance for her lover . . . 

Each strand of your hair 
Of midnight hue 

Diffuses the rarest perfume of life . . . 
Your mouth, leaves of soft red roses, 

Gives warmth to your lily white face . . . 
You have the wisdom 
Of a child 
Intent on play, 

And I love you. 

When I kiss you, 

You shall respond with all the passion 
The ages have given you 
To enslave all men . . . 

And we shall become breathless 
And cease to live, 

Save for the ecstacy of our nearness. 

We shall become expectant 




8 


Purple Plectron 


Of the unattainable, 

The great white passion 
Of the absolute . . . 

And death shall seem inevitable. 

We shall entwine our beings 

Like the clinging vines 

In a courtesan's garden . . . 

We shall crave completion 
And deny ourselves 

The supreme moment of‘utter joy . . . 

Until death seems the only obstacle . . . 
We shall cry out 

In the pain of unfulfillment, denial— 

The goal infinite . . . 

You and I, 

Goddess of speechless delights, 

Shall dream of the raptures 

That bring peace, disillusion, and fatigue 

To the world of lovers . . . 

And tho I go mad with passion unsated, 
Longing unbearable, 

I shall leave you . . . 

To dream alone. 

But I shall dream of you 
And rush back to you, 

Devoid of poetry 

With death to beauty and wonder, 

Back, back to you 
To make of your body 
The cup that sates . . . 





Purple Plectron 


9 


You are not angered, maddened . . . 

At my flight? 

You, a woman, you understand? 

You too would prolong . . . 

Love . . . passion . . . ecstacy . . . illusion . . . 

Marvelous creature . . . goddess . . . 

You resist . . . yearning . . . craving . . . 
You fight . . . with longing and passion 
Inexhaustible. . . . 

Alas, I remember . . . 

You are but a creation of my mind . . . 



10 


Purple Plectron 


THRILLS 
I have been thrilled 
At the sight of the Sun 
Uniting the sky and earth 
In colorful glories. . . . 

A full-masted sailboat 

Defying, with the majesty 

Of a goddess, the elements . . . 

My lovely sweetheart 

Closing her eyes 

From the happiness 

Of our first kiss. . . . 



Purple Plectron 


11 


THESEUS ABSQUE FIFO 

Si possent homines delinamentis capi, 

Omnes haberent nunc amatores anus, 

Aetas et corpus tenerum et monigeratio— 

Haec sunt venena formosarum mulierum. 

Lanuvius. 

Could men be lured to love by magic rites, 

Each hag would with a lover soothe her nights, 

A lovely form, a pliant will and youth, 

These are the charms if beauty vies with truth. 

W. C. F. 

Ask me not to love you fair Delia . . . and love not 
me ... I crave but your kisses . . . and 
your nearness. 

And you . . . sobbing Chloe . . . why weep for 
love . . . tho my passion burned response in 

you . . . would you be consumed . . . and 
consume me too . . . 

Why sigh you for love . . . Oh, wife of Potiphar 
... he whose name you bear . . . gave you 
that . . . 

Your dance of the mist . . . lithe Terpsichore . . . 
tore me from the other . . . interpret the new 
passion . . . 

Can you still sing of love . . . sweet Phyllis . . . 
your voice haunts me . . . please sing always 




12 


Purple Pieciron 


Write no longer your verses of love . . . Golden 

Girl of the North ... the winds bring your 
song to me . . . 

Sadden me once again . . . Viola . . . with the 
melancholy strings ... I would woo thee with 
bowed head . . . 

Come back, my Daphne, and paint me again . . . 

this time with furrowed brow . . . and bald¬ 

ing pate . . . 

What do you read in my palm . . . Gypsy princess 
of yesterday . . . would that you would cross 
my path . . . tomorrow . . . 

Heloise . . . the vows alone do not separate us 
. . . the World . . . it is cruel . . . and 
you are frail . . . 

I could not understand then . . . Bilitis . . . and 
I cannot forgive now . . . the lure of Lesbia 


Womankind—may I now go to my couch? 




Purple Plectron 


13 


SEEKING THE ABSOLUTE 

Since my first consciousness of sex, 

I have sought the absolute; 

And tho each succeeding amour 
Promises the end of my search, 

Each new love begins the quest over. 

Once I met a beautiful woman, 

A premier dancer in a musical show. 

At last! I exulted to myself, 

If I could but have her, 

I will have found the absolute in sex. 

For many weeks I never advanced 
Beyond fervid discussions 
Of current literature— 

And the classics. 

Oh! The rhapsodic moments 

We spent over the Comstockian taboos— 

Sometimes she sang for me 

Or played the piano as the mood moved her; 

Then again she would dance for me 

As one only does for Art's sake. 

We wined, we dined, we drove thru 
The verdant country— 

And I wanted her as I never 
Hope to want another— 

But we parted leaving me 
To ponder over my failure. 

One day I received a letter from her— 

She said, “I hope you will forgive me 
And try to understand . . . 




14 


Purple Plectron 


AD INFINITUM 

Please let me forget 
That you know 
I’ve been called 
By other women, 

A PASSION GOD. 
Please let me forget 
That you know 
I’ve loved before, 

And with lesser cause. 
Please let me forget, 
Forget you too. 



Purple Plectron 


15 


HOLY MATRIMONY 

Many of my men friends were successful 
rivals . . . that is to say, they 
married the respective women 
of our choice. 

I am a confirmed bachelor . . . not 

without cause or pride. 

I could not have married them all 

and of course . . . the dear ladies 
always wanted marriage, while I, 
by a like token, wanted them. 

The ladies wanted marriage, 

their husbands wanted wives, 
and I hope they are satisfied. 

But I believe in marriage . . . 

It prevents spinsterhood, 

stabilizes society, 

builds up the state, 

supports governmental institutions, 

contributes to the census, 

sustains our armies 

and divorce courts, 

and legalizes what might, 

(lacking the benefit of clergy) 
be put harshly. 



16 


Purple Pieciron 


Furthermore, it is a safety valve 
for society— 

I am a part of Society— 

It is a safety valve for me. 

I believe in marriage— 

FOR OTHERS. 



Purple Plectron 


17 


EST QILEDAM FEERE VOLUPTAS 

I have known the mortifying gnawing of hunger, 
the sickening sense of despair . . . 
the terrible longing for companionship, 
when even a new thought would have helped. 

I have known the terrifying wretchedness of fear, 
and the hellish feeling of self-contempt . . . 
the degrading depth of self-pity, 
and the soul-piercing finger of scorn; 

I have known stupefying effects of narcotics, 
and the false exhilaration of drugs . . . 
the disgrace and headaches of drink, 
the stench and foulness of dirt; 

I have known the fulminating malevolence of man, 
the caustic tongue and the cloven foot of woman . . . 
the invidious acrimony of proscription, 
the taunting invective of harlot; 

I have known unrelenting sorrow of irreparable loss, 
the inexorable scorpion-bite of Death . . . 
the unpitying cruelty of a mistress, 
the enervating ghoulishness of a vampire; 

I have known the soul destroying secrets of sin, 
the rankling ingratitude of self-sacrifice . . . 
the disquietude of dereliction of duty, 
the heart-breaking pangs of unrequited passion; 



18 


Purple Plectron 


But I am not whining—I merely weep, 
weep with the joy of knowing . . . 
knowing the things that make possible 
the joys that are in store for me. 



Purple Plectron 


19 


SUPPLICATION 

Tonight 

Let me rest my head 

On your valleyed bosom 

Before your lover I become . . 

I would know 

The sweet ecstacy 

Of perfumed repose . . . 

Then, when all is peace, 

Kiss my curtained eyes 

That smoulder with diamond flame 

We shall ignite 

Like two forest fires 

Raging to meet 

In violent conflagration . . . 

O let our passion 
Transform our bodies 
Into a mad purple 
And our breaths 

Into furious hisses of fire . . . 


Two comets shall have clashed 

And tomorrow 

The World shall find, 

The molting meteors 
Of our union . . . 




20 


Purple Plectron 


LEGACY 
When I die 

Place my musk-scented ashes 
In an urn of ficus 
Carved to image 
The God of Gardens, 

So that in my death 
I leave to women 
What they worshipped 
In my life. 



Purple Plectron 


21 


HORSE SENSE 

I had just pledged my love 
To Cecile, who had merited it— 

And left her to meet 
A potential paramour. 

While waiting at the trysting place 
In the heart of the city, 

I saw a traffic policeman 
Dismount and go into a restaurant. 

The lovely animal, left alone, 

Perched itself on the sidewalk. 

A beautiful woman, richly gowned, 

Stopped to pet the horse, 

Who seemed to like it. 

But the instant the policeman 
Appeared, the horse forsook 
The beauteous one, and 
Gleefully licked the sugar from 
His master’s hand. 

I learned my lesson and didn’t keep the tryst. 



22 


Purple Plectron 


CODICIL 

I am troubled 

And the hell pits of despair 

Claim me . . . and reach for me. 

My sleep doesn’t rest me 

And I await morning with dread, 

The hopeless dread of a beaten man— 
I vow a thousand times 
To snatch my wretched self 
From the clutching tentacles 
You call Life— 

Tortured brain—you say . . . 

No! There is no bitterness 
Except towards myself . . . 

If I kill myself, 

I shall bequeath to the world 
My one possession— 

My right, as inalienable as 
Any you possess— 

My right to 

End, for myself, at least, my troubles. 

If I can escape 

The hell hole of hopelessness, 

Without killing myself— 

I will retain that right— 

For future bequests. 



Purple Plectron 


23 


AMBITION 

You can’t understand 
My figures of stress and strain, 
For you are complacent 
And at ease with the world; 
While I, I am* bitter; 

Terribly, relentlessly bitter. 

And I shall become more bitter, 
So bitter that I and 
My bitterness can’t live— 

Until finally, Myself dies 
And in the creation of 
A new self my bitterness 
Died also. 

I should like to know 

That new self, and after that 

The next self. 

I wonder, will it, too, be bitter? 




24 


Purple Pieciron 


CROWDS 
I hate crowds 

Be they patrician or plebeian. 
Their collective acts 
Are as futile 
As boisterous winds 
Over stagnant pools. 



Purple Plectron 


25 


FETICH 

Until I read Kraft-Ebing, 

I couldn’t understand 
Why that tall handsome soldier, 
Cultured, educated and lionized, 
Married that emaciated, 
Pop-eyed, simpleton 
Of a shrew blonde. 

He liked her unaffected lisp. 



26 


Purple Plectron 


CURIOSA FEUCITAS 

If you ever wonder why 

That handsome chap 

At your favorite restaurant 

Is a waiter—or why anyone else is, 

Order tea with lemon 

And the cream he brings, 

Will solve your problem. 



Purple Plectron 


27 


IN TERMS OF COMMERCE 

If vers libre were a charge per word, 

Or the cool fragrance of the winds 
Tru leaves, a mortgage on one’s soul 
And speech—a luxury sans peer, 

And thought, mere thought, pregnant with expense,. 
Even wishing, yes, wishing a charge, 

I would write verse, 

Breathe the cool air, 

Mortgage my soul, 

Speak your praises 
After endless thought, 

And wish 

Eove’s language were more replete. 



28 


Purple Plectron 


SABOTAGE 

Some one once said 

“Do right and fear no man— 

“Don’t write, and fear no woman.” 

I fear no man— 

I fear several women. 

If you must write love letters, 

Keep them in your possession 
A few days 
Then read them. 

The postal authorities will get 
After me 

For curtailing the sale of postage stamps, 
If you take my advice. 




Purple Plectron 


29 


MALBROOK 

(After the Hanging of Private Arthur E. Haensel) 

Why is it that suffering 
Makes me kin to the under-dog? 

Do I really feel compassion 
Or is it the disappointment 
Of the moment? 

Am I sorry for his family 

Or is it that I failed to save his life? 

Other men have been hanged, 

And I didn’t suffer for their fate. 

Must one have a personal interest, 

Must one feel a personal loss, 

Must one carry a cross 
To honestly be responsive to 
The suffering of another? 

Moved by the effect of failure, 

(Or was it miscarriage of Justice?) 

I swore never to represent 
Another charged with murder. 

The penalty for which 
Is another murder. 

Am I, the lawyer charged with 
The defense, also charged 
With the failure which results 
In legal murder? 

What right have men to be 
Judged by their peers ? 

Have men peers ? 

Are the selecting officials 



30 


Purple Plectron 


Competent to choose my peers? 
Who decides their fitness? 
Should not an accused be 
Protected from Society 
Equally as much as Society 
Demands protection from 
An individual? 

Ah, Justice, you are indeed blind! 



Purple Plectron 


31 


IN THE ARMY 

When I was a private 
And my brother’s chauffeur 
My immediate superior, 

I thought the system damned unfair. 

When I discovered 

That the shavetail 

Was a chap I tutored at college, 

I wished that Germany 

Would hurry up and win the War— 

My humiliation was greater 
Than my patriotism. 

After eight months of such 

Martyrdom, I was transferred 

To an infantry outfit of the regular army. 

The corporal of my squad 

Didn’t like the color of my hair, 

(Or what there was of it), 

At any rate we mixed it 
Back in the corral— 

I was made corporal 
Because I licked him. 

Patriotism came back. 

Soon I was a sergeant. 

Later I became a shavetail. 

War was a glorious thing, 

The Huns a menace, 

Kultur a chimera; 

Even to make the world safe for Democracy 
Became more than an empty phrase. 



32 


Purple Plectron 


After the War, 

The American Legion and more honors. 
War is a personal thing 
And Patriotism— 

Well, that depends! 



Purple Plectron 


33 


THE BENEFACTORS 
(With apologies to Kipling.) 

I have held close to my breast many women, 

I have kissed and longed to possess many others, 

I have fought for women who were dear to me— 

I have suffered for women who were cold to me, 

I have lied for women who were untrue to me— 

I have borrowed for women who demanded tithes of.’ 
me— 

I have been ill because of women who sickened me, 

I have been a fool for women who demanded a clown—- 
I have been infatuated with women who planned their 
conquests 

And I thought I loved them . . . 

I have loved a woman who loved me, 

And I know I love her. 




34 


Purple Plectron 


EGO 

I would that I were a God 
Long enough to command 
That the most beautiful women 
In the world be brought me .... 

Then I would that I became again a man, 
In whom would be born 
The greatest desire for possession 
With the power to achieve— 

I would then dismiss the women 
To prove that tho a man, 

I prefer my own method of selection. 




Purple Plectron 


35 


IF THIS BE TREASON .... 

I never knew a woman I craved 
To the exclusion of all others— 

I never had a thought 

That could crowd out thinking— 

I never felt a thrill 

That made me eager for another— 

I never heard a song 

That remained in my memory— 

I never saw a picture 

That drew me from my tastes— 

I never smelled a perfume or a flower 
That lured me from any other odor likes— 

I never sensed a thing 

That failure so to do would have made any difference. 
Thus—nothing ever grips me .... 



36 


Purple Plectron 


CONCEIT 

I often think of the great loves of the past, 

And wonder if the truth were known 

Would we read of them with the same envious zest? 

I think not. . . 

One of my loves will be recorded in history 

In the glowing terms Death devises for its favorites. 

The truth will die with me 

And you shall only know what my biographer 

Deems salable information. . . 

It should be so . .. for even he won’t recognize the truth 



Purple Plectron 


37 


PROGRESS 

(Skyscrapers) 

Today you are 
Giant sepulchers 
Teeming with life. . . 
Tomorrow you will be 
Great skeletons 
Posterity will clothe 
With bricks and mortar 
To be tombs for the living. 



38 


Purple Plectron 


BEAUTY AND THE BEAST 

Do I lack appreciation 

For music .... has it no appeal 

For me .... 

Or do you lie ... . 

When you grow ecstatic 

In your hyperbole 

Over some symphony 

Played with crashes .... and cymbals 

Screeches and thumpings. 

Baton tappings and gesticulations .... 

Ending in a mad pitch of turmoil, 

Deafening and noisome? 

At our last concert you said, 

“It was beautiful! How rapt your attention was!” 
And I was glad that I don’t snore. 



Purple Plectron 


39 


FRIENDS 

Don’t be so sure 
Of my dependence on you— 
Unless you wish to be props, 
Props, without whose support 
I would crash to your Earth. 




40 


Purple Plectron 


A TATONS 

I long for the things that the flesh cannot yield, 

Such as Truth that eludes, when meek Faith takes the 
field; 

For contentment I crave and its languorous trail, 

But happiness to me can nothing avail. 

I wish for success . . . yea, I strive for its power 

What's the good of a wife, the appeal is the dower. 

The woman I want, but I want her in vain 

For possession alas brings me nothing but pain. 

It’s the wish for the Kingdom that gives me the 
pleasure, 

Achievement is barren, the thought is the treasure. 




Purple Plectron 


41 


“TAKE ME, MY LOVER, BUT 

It would be the highest virtue 
If your conscience wouldn't hurt you, 
But how can I your lover be, 

If you think more of pain than me? 



42 


Purple Plectron 


THOUGHTS IN A DENTIST’S CHAIR 

If I let him know it hurts 
He’ll think me a coward; 

He can’t kill me, 

I’ll be a Spartan. 

Maybe he wants to know if it hurts; 

I’ll grunt and grin . . . 

When he takes that damn rubber dam 
Out of my mouth, 

I’ll discuss the psychology of pain with him. 

In that way I can get him to 
Tell me to let him know if it hurts. 

But he must know it hurts. 

I’m pretty brave at that— 

I bet a woman would have fainted 
After that jolt! 

Yet women are supposed to stand 
Pain more readily than men. 

I’ll ask him about that; 

Dammit all, a fellow can’t 
Be expected to sit and bear this 
Without a word. 

Dentists must be prenatal sadists— 

Why, I think he actually enjoys 
My suppressed outcries. 

I wonder what Freud 
Or Kraft-Ebing think of dentists. 

Painless dentistry—like the same kind of child-birth 
Must be a fiction—- 
Only pain and payment 
Are realities. 





Purple Plectron 


43 


TAG DAYS 

I was sick of tag days 

And determined not to be tagged. 

I was impervious to the accusing glances 
And resisted the smirking 
“Have a tag, please. ,, 

I said to myself, 

I am not interested in Charity, 

Because only good-looking girls 
Have been able to tag me in the past. 
After a few hours of dodging the taggers 
It became easy to remain adamant .... 
Suddenly I found myself 
Digging into my pocket and mumbling 
To the prettiest pair of eyes 
I had ever seen. . . . 

It was then I realized that my opposition 
Was not to tag days, 

But to homely taggers. 





44 


Purple Plectron 


POETIC JUSTICE 

She was very demure, 

And looked as much 
Unlike a shoplifter 
As any graduate of the 
House of the Good Shepherd. 

But several articles were found 
In her cold little hall room. 

The papers in their reports 
Of the arrest seemed sympathetic. 

The judge appointed me 
To defend her—♦ 

It was my turn as a “poor defender.” 

The jury pitied her, 

The judge was kind, 

The prosecutor didn’t have his heart in the case 
Or, mayhap, he lost his heart. 

The accusing witness regretted his action 
And the dear child was freed. 

Out of pure gratitude 

She sent me several pairs, of gloves 

Of various sizes to pick out my own. 

I sent for her to ask how she 
Could afford such extravagance. 

She replied: 

“Well, didn’t you prove I didn’t 
Steal them? Ain’t I got a right 
To give them away now?” 




Purple Plectron 


45 


MY FIRST DIVORCE CASE 

She was charmingly simple— 

Almost like a timid child 

About to show an excellent report card. 

She was only twenty 

And had been married to that brute 

For almost two years. 

She married him to reform him, 

And as I listened 

The formal statements of the bill 

I was to file on her behalf came to my mind—• 

Beat, choked, kicked, slapped and 

Otherwise abused your oratrix 

Who always conducted herself 

As a good, true, virtuous and chaste wife should. 

Never did a formal statement seem to fit 

A complainant better. 

When I told her what the fee would be— 

I thought I saw a change come over her— 

But all she said as she 

Crossed her well proportioned legs, 

And slightly raised her skirts, 

Thereby exposing a very trim ankle, 

Was—“I’d gladly pay but I haven’t that much. 
Can’t you see any way 
To reduce your fee?’ 



46 


Purple Plectron 


H. E. B. 

I have loved you since my boyhood— 

It has been love in all love’s moods; 
Sometimes I craved your lips, 

Then just to hear your voice. 

Many times, only the thought of you 
Gave me love-pleasure. 

Merely to see you 
Was oft my fondest hope. 

You taught me much 

Of the decencies and subtleties of life, 

And inspired me to greater things 

Than making love to a world of women. 

Your gentle criticisms were 

Of infinite help to me 

In my cultural progress. 

You have the wisdom of the world 
From its genesis. 

You are beautiful of face and soul. 

For your approbation, I would 
Deny myself even you, 

You who are of divinity 
In all earthly things, 

Yet I am glad you married another 
And talk to me on the telephone. 




Purple Plectron 


47 


TO A PIANIST 

Each sound you caused 
By your music-fingered touch 
On the ivory whites 
Struck a corresponding 
Black key 
In me— 

The unlocking muse 
Of a hopeless love. 



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Purple Plectron 


JEWEL 

I called you, “Jew 61 ’” 

Because you thought 
Your virtue a priceless gem . . . 
But you wore it as one does 
An only garment 

And I couldn’t leave you bare . . . 






Purple Plectron 


49 


LYNCEUS 

Rouged lips that are not red, 
Blackened brows tweezed and thin, 
Painted face lined underneath 
Colored hair with hues unknown; 
Skillful skirts to cheat the eye 
Hiding perhaps—deformity— 

A studied color scheme 
In hats and gowns, 

Schooled emotions— 

Sweet-sick perfumes instead of baths; 
Steeped in virtue or even vice, 

Faithful only to a creedless creed, 
Devoid of soul— 

Insensible to beauty 
Unresponsive . . . 

Yet she is loved . . . 

And then you ask 
Why love is Blind! 



50 


Purple Plectron 


PATRIOTISM 

She had all the charm and freshness of youth 
And her innocent patter 
Made me wonder what colleges 
Were for anyway. 

But she made me forget 
That soon my uniform would 
House vermin, instead of 
Varying brands of face powder— 

And I was congratulating 
Myself on finding pleasure 
In the mere presence of the girl— 

When, like in reply to some 
Unspoken rebuke. 

She said— 

“I wonder what you must think of me? 

Here you are, ready at any moment 
To lay down your very life 
For your country, while I give 
Nothing, do nothing, to lighten 
Even for an instant, your burden. 

Oh! How I wish that I was a 
Woman of the streets for tonight!” 





Purple Plectron 


51 


“THAT GLISTERING FOIR ,, 

Because his wife was beautiful 
The politician thought he could 
Progress, using his wife as a stepping stone, 
But she was faithful and not at all 
A coquette. 

“Charming” was the word men used 
And soon lost interest. 

No one seemed to want his wife. 

One day he let it be known 

That he suspected his wife of intrigues. 

His friends sought her 

And soon she became popular. 

The politician was elected to Congress 
And was away a good part of the time— 
His pretty secretary with him, of course. 
On their way to Washington he 
Said to her— 

“That was an ingenious idea 
Of yours, my dear.” 




52 


Purple Plectron 


PANDORA 
P. P. 

To the average mortal 
Merely beautiful, 

But to me 

Like the dream woman 
One never really possesses 
Yet satisfies the dream cravings 
Only to be craved for anew . . . 

And so is she in her being 

Groping for the fleeting thoughts 

That come unbidden 

And depart—leaving mute strivings 

That vanish 

And germ thoughts 

That perish 

Almost at birth . . . 

One day she will awake 

And in her awakening 

Will disturb that 

Which shall make her 

More than merely beautiful to you . . . 





Purple Plectron 


53 


COMPENSATION 

All my life I had my own way— 

Then I saw that little black diamond-eyed 
Girl in the chorus. 

I tried for weeks to meet her and 
At last I did. 

She wasn't interested. 

I tried every trick of man 
And trebled my fortune 
In most alluring terms. 

Finally she promised to 
Come to the office. 

Two days before the appointed day 
I became very ill, 

But at the hour she was to 
Arrive at the office, 

Against the doctor's orders 
I was on time. 

I phoned her and she was in bed, 

Entirely oblivious to our appointment . . . 
Three weeks later the doctors 
Agreed that plenty of rest and sleep 
Might effect a recovery for me. 

The strangest part is— 

I don't remember her name. 




54 


Purple Plectron 


“And that Frank Innocence that Burneth What 
It Toucheth and Beaveth Nought But Ashen Dead 
Embers.” 

RUTH R. 

Once in Youth’s lust for liberty 
For the sexes—and all else, 

I hoped to meet a woman 
Who had emancipated herself 
From feminine wiles 
And pretended modesties . . . 

A woman who could be honest— 

Bike a man. 

She is. 

She is young and has 
Delightfully small hands 
That to hold I have no desire. 

She has no girlish charm, 

Yet to you—World with unseeing eyes, 

She might appear beautiful . . . 

But you don’t know 
That she is honest 
Bike a man, 

And asks for things she wants 

And contrives with man-like directness 

To get them 

With least effort 

And no recompense. 

You perhaps could love her 
For she is pleasing to the eye, 

But you don’t know 
She can be honest 
Bike a man . . . 



Purple Plectron 


55 


SARTOR RESARTUS 

She was a simple trusting girl 
And came to him 
Without fear or design. 

At first her simplicity charmed and intrigued, 
But he soon, grew tired of her. 

Yet she had learned from him 

The ways of the world 

And planned her revenge with care. 

Three years later 
He met her— 

The mistress of a powerful business rival. 
Like the mad flow of a wind-lashed stream 
He craved this woman of his creation. 

She was unattainable, 

And her resistance adamant; 

He became abject, 

Pleading, piteous— 

He begged her to be his. 

She took him at his word, 

And so they were married. 



56 


Purple Plectron 


PITY THE POOR WORKING GIRL 

If a man has a pretty stenographer 
His friends wink knowingly. 

Sometimes they even 
Suggest an unholy reason 
For her employment. 

Poor girl, she always pays. 

I had a pretty stenographer once. 

She did her work well— 

So well in fact, that 
If one of my clients 
Hadn't married her, 

I might still be paying her salary. 



Purple Plectron 


5 7 


TEAM WORK 

Irene and Claudia were actresses 
Who lived together. 

I liked Irene because she was 
So lovely and so naive, 

If you know what I mean. 

One day Claudia received an expensive gift 
From an admirer. 

And she said to me, “Why don’t you buy 
One like this for Irene, you like her 
And can afford it?” 

Irene was so mortified that 
I bought a more expensive gift— 

Merely to lessen her humiliation. 

Two weeks later, Bill, my pal, 

Told me what a charming girl Claudia was. 
He was calling on her one night and Irene 
Showed him a wonderful gift she had received 
From an admirer. 

And greatly to the surprise and 
Humiliation of Claudia, Irene suggested that 
Bill, who could afford it, 

Buy Claudia one, too. 

He did. 

The poor Simp. 



58 


Purple Plectron 


MARIE 

You make me wonder about Life— 

Every day I see you, 

With a broad smile slitting 
Your full moon face, 

Trusting anybody with the few cents 
It cost them to pay for your wares, 

Stale candy in silver paper, 

Bloom-lost peaches and other 
Fruits in decaying season. 

You squat there after eleven 
Every day, on the eighth floor 
Of the court building. 

Now it’s a child laden mother, 

A munching law clerk, a coatless 
Court attache, a baggy-kneed lawyer, 
Stenographers, and even I— 

Who buy your wares. You make me 
Wonder about Life. 

Why do you squat there daily, 

Beside your big basket 
And sell to all, while other 
Fat Italian women, almost as toothless 
And as old, and as picturesque as you, 

Do housework and what not? 

And why am I pleased when 
You greet me each day by name? 

Is it because you don’t know the 
Names of the others? 

Truly, Marie, you make me wonder about Life. 



Purple Pieciron 


59 


CATHERINE 

What a beautiful faith you have 
In your God, and the effect of your 
Prayers to Him. . . . 

How soft and pure you look 

When you come from your Communion. . . . 

How sublime and restful 

The Masses leave you. . . . 

When your friend was ill. 

With what moving fervor 
You prayed for her. . . . 

And how joyous you were 
Upon her recovery. . . . 

And you felt your prayers answered. 

Oh, Child of Faith! 

I would that I could 
Believe like that! 



60 


Purple Plectron 


JACK JONES 

If you take him seriously, 
What a terrible person he is! 
He would distort disorder 
Into chaos 

And change wine into vinegar 
Unless some one needed 
The vinegar. 

But when you know him— 

Albeit his hair 

Is always rebelling 

Against the order of the comb, 

And his eyes glitter 

Like a wild man's— 

Jack Jones, when the worst 
Has been said, 

Is a damn good house painter, 
Neither more nor less. 



Purple Plectron 


61 


“CHERRY” 

You little sun-kissed blossom from Hell 
With a full frank face and soul of a slave, 
Lustrous-eyed, and with a forest flame passion 
That left not enough ashes 
To be blown away by the winds of remorse 
Or to be wetted into mud 
By the rain of regrets. 

How you tortured me 
With the denial of your body, 

But flaunted your wantonness 
As no courtesan ever dared. 

Poor fool that I was— 

On the meager salary of an army officer, 
Away from all that I feared, 

I sought to establish you a queen, 

But you had the soul of a slave. 

Fool that I was, I tried to find 
In you a responsive chord 
To attune to what decent sentiments 
You let remain unto the fool that I was, 

But you were a beautiful, 

Terrible being, of lovely body 
And soul of a slave. 

What denials, what sacrifices I made— 

To what lengths I went. 

What crimes I committed; 

And to what purpose? 

To learn that when you finally 



62 


Purple Plectron 


Cringed and cowered like 
A beaten she-cur 
Beneath a master’s lash— 
That you were but the soul 
Of a slave, 

And I but a poor fool. 



Purple Plectron 


63 


SHE OF THE RED TAM 

Bright eyed, precocious, lithe. . . . 
Desire consumed but winsome, 

An emotional radical 
Who gropes for tragedy 
But finds mirth instead. . . . 

Not unbeautiful 
Yet not beautiful. 

Talks when she should think, 

And giggles when you expect laughter. 



64 


Purple Plectron 


YOU NEVER CAN TEEL 

Each night I waited for her 
At the stage door— 

Dad, the doorman knew 
Me of old— 

“This time,” said he, “You’ve picked a winner.” 

And gladly I gave him another bill, 

Everyone seemed to want my money 
But the little girl in the chorus. 

“No daddy for me,” was her way 
Of dismissing any patronizing offer. 

I should have been glad that 
She was no gold-digger— 

But I knew I wasn’t handsome— 

And that intellectual discussions 
Didn’t interest her— 

Nor drinking and wild feasts— 

I was puzzled 
What was her game ? 

The truth never occurred, 

Until one day I found out 
That she loved me. 



Purple Plectron 


65 


CRICHTON. 

Jacob A. Lqsb. 

“Obit 12-18-21” 

In some earlier age 
A Greek scholar 
After the invasion 
Of Oriental corruptions— 

But to-day 

An intellectual sentimentalist 
And owner of a mental gymnasium 
Where every conceivable 
Fact gets almost daily exercise. 
Very interesting as a husband— 
And devoted parent— 

A devotee 
Of Rady Nicotine 
In her perfection. 





66 


Purple Plectron 


PORTRAIT 

You’ve seen him— 

Unobtrusive and gentle, 

More Christ-like than Christ 
Tho he smokes cigars 
Has a crease in his trousers 
And is clean. . . . 

His long fingers of sensitive touch 

The picturesque carelessness of beard growth 

The color discerning eye 

And ready appreciation . . . 

Establish him beyond recall 
An artist. 



Purple Plectron 


67 


WITCHERY 

I looked into your eyes 
And became a crystal-gazer. 

I saw soft petaled flowers 
Of wondrous hue, 

Growing by the banks 
Of a bubbling spring, 

Which brought a strange 
Freshness to my mouth 
And revealed some secrets 
Of the silent earth— 

I saw smooth glistening rocks, 

Of fantastic shape and color, 
Milestones on the road 
That leads to Nature-love. 

I saw purple mountains 
Swelling into the very heavens 
Dike great billows 
Crested with the purity of love. 

The Sun became a sorcerer, 
Transforming itself 
Into a golden wind-propelled steed 
Bearing to the goal of understanding, 
My love— 

Autumn leaves became illustrated pages 
Torn by buoyant children 
From the book of Dreams. . . 

And I sensed a nearness 

To you . . . tho you are born 

From the womb of Hope. 



68 


Purple Plectron 


“VANADIS” 

Your siren sails lured me on 
And Fve succumbed to all the 
Charms of your white body 
As it bathes in the inland sea . . . 

And tho you give yourself 

To wind and wave 

With the abandon of a courtesan— 

I love you with a beauty and wonder. 

The men who have preceded me 
Have never been rivals . . . 

For no man can awaken response in you. 
We are bound . . . your other lovers and I, 
By the sacred love you have inspired . . . 
In each of us. 

With you as a medium, 

We have ascended to Heaven 
Each time the moon let down 
Its silver draw-bridge 
For the tides and us— 

And we returned to your comforting bosom 
By way of the golden rope-ladder, 

Which the World calls the Sun . . . 



Purple Plectron 


69 


VANADIS MAGIC 

Yesterday when we left the harbor, 

The Sun danced on deck 

Like any other lovely guest. . . . 

But when we returned, 

I saw the warm-hearted mistress 
Of the celestial system 
Yield in all her colorful glory 
To the passion of the purple mist 
On the green-gold couch— 

The sight gripped my fancy 

And I sank my soul in the ecstacy. 

The sheer ecstacy of its contemplation. 




70 


Purple Plectron 


RUDY 


You, a cynic? 

You to whom 
A vagrant sea-spray 
Is a sweet caress . . . 

A falling leaf, 

A signal for brooding . . . 

The first gush of chimney smoke 
A death knell to bachelorhood . . . 
You—to talk of galoshes 
When there’s love to be made— 
Makes you not a cynic, 

But a Philistine. 



Purple Plectrcm 


71 


THE WHITE DISTURBER 

I looked out of my office window 
And saw a light flurry of snow, 

I knew that I could no longer work, 
For I longed to be where 
I could watch the snow 
Change the gray-black trees to white, 
Transform the fallen, crinkly leaves 
Into a bed of flakes, 

Glistening against the filtered light 
Of waning sun. 


\ 




72 


Purple Plectron 


NO PARADOX 

I’d hate to be an artist, 

But I’d like to draw trees 
That lined meandering roads . . . 
Flowers that were sheltered 
By bushes, lilac bushes . . . 

Grasses, dewy and wind-blown, 
Hiding moss-covered rocks . . . 

I’d like to draw trees . . . 

But I’d hate to be an artist. 



Purple Plectron 


73 


BENEDICTION 

When the sun sets in Pennsylvania 
Through the trees' verdant hue, 

The face of the sky 
Seems wreathed in a smile. 

Each tree-top reaches like a child's fingers 
To gather the sun rays; 

But the sky merely smiles 

And gradually fades 

Over the hills and mountains— 

The stepping stones for our gods, 

Who never ascend to heaven. 



74 


Purple Plectron 


CONFESSION 

On the Birth of William Osman De Souchet, Jr. 
* * * And then the doctor said that 
Both my wife and the baby would live. 

I tell you, old pal, 

That was worth more 

Than all your passional ecstacies, 

Your fervid transitory amours, 

Your cynical satire^ on marriage, 

Your erotic literature 
And love motifs— 

Your poetry and 
Experiments in emotion. 


He was right. 




Purple Plectron 


75 


BAROMETER 

When I smoke a cigaret 
My mood is light and carefree 
And my thoughts turn to 
Things pleasureable— 

Rike wine and women and perhaps food, 
A cigar denotes smug satisfaction 
And the mood is heavy with indulgence, 
The. result perhaps of conquest or victory 
In work or love. 

But a pipe—a pipe 

Means I’m broke and in the depths 

Of despair, disillusion or debt. 

It means Fve got the smell of ink 
In my nostrils, 

And things like this result. 







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